What is the Temple of Zeus?
Q: What is the Temple of Zeus?
A: The Temple of Zeus is a Doric temple located in the sanctuary at Olympia, Greece. It was dedicated to Zeus, the principal god of the Ancient Greeks and was an important and impressive structure at Olympia.
Q: When was it built?
A: The Temple of Zeus was built between 470 BC and 456 BC.
Q: What materials were used for its construction?
A: Local limestone was used as the chief material for constructing the temple, while roof tiles, gargoyles, and sculptures were made from marble.
Q: How large was it?
A: The Temple of Zeus measured 64.12 meters by 27.66 meters and had a height of 20.25 meters with six columns at each end and thirteen columns along both sides with each column being 10.45 meters high.
Q: What stories were depicted in its sculptures?
A: The sculptures on the east pediment depicted the story of Pelops and Hippodameia which is about the first chariot races while those on the west pediment depicted a story about Centaurs and Lapiths which symbolized barbarity versus civilization.
Q: What happened to Phidias' Statue of Zeus that once stood inside this temple?
A: The fate of Phidias' Statue of Zeus is unknown but it may have been taken to Constantinople where it likely got destroyed in 475 AD or destroyed in 426 AD when Emperor Theodosius II ordered for this temple to be burned down to ground level due to earthquakes destroying it again 522 AD and 551 AD respectively afterwards
